Kujawa, Nick

A former General Counsel to the Texas Secretary of State, and Chief Committee Clerk to a major committee in the Texas House of Representatives, Mr. Trainor focuses primarily on election law and government relations. He delivers a rare combination of legislative, legal, and political experience on behalf of his clients.

Mr. Trainor advises numerous elected officials and political organizations on compliance with state and federal election regulations. Additionally, he has served as lead counsel on several election recounts and contests.

Mr. Trainor has been intimately involved in Texas redistricting, helping to design the Texas House legislative districts adopted for the 2002 elections. During the third-called Special Session of 2003, he coordinated the maps and legal aspects of passage and Department of Justice pre-clearance of HB 3, the new congressional maps adopted for the 2004 elections.

Mr. Trainor served as General Counsel for the Office of the Texas Secretary of State, where he helped oversee the operation of a $14.5 million state agency. He assisted in representation of the agency, in coordination with the Office of the Attorney General, in all civil and criminal actions brought by or against the agency. During that time, Mr. Trainor was appointed by Secretary Roger Williams to serve as the statewide Republican member representing Texas on the Standards Advisory Board to the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission. Additionally, he was involved in several major cases: Texas Democratic Party, et al v. Tina J. Benkiser, Strayhorn v. Williams, and the LULAC v. Perry redistricting litigation.

For more than five regular and six special legislative sessions, Mr. Trainor provided counsel to members of the Texas House of Representatives, ultimately serving as General Counsel and Clerk of the House Committee on Regulated Industries. Mr. Trainor's experience includes delivering successful legislative counsel on matters in the telecommunications, electric utility, and oil & gas sectors of the Texas economy. Specifically, he drafted key legislative provisions centering on the Public Utility Commission, Office of the Public Utility Counsel, and the Independent Market Monitor for the state electric utility industry. In 2003, Mr. Trainor worked to pass SB 5, landmark legislation that opened Texas' video and cable markets to competition.

In July 2006, Mr. Trainor was appointed by the Supreme Court of Texas to serve on the Task Force on Jury Assembly and Administration, which proposed changes to the system by which juries are assembled and administered in Texas.